Summary:Piotr and Illyana get around to talking after the fallout of Perchance to Dream and Seven Year Itch. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsPerchance to Dream and Seven Year Itch Theme Song{$themesong} |
  |
Piotr had slept on the couch last night, giving Mikhail his room. Illyana may have been woken up by the sound of Keiko and Piotr arguing momentarily before settling down again. There's a half-drunk bottle of vodka on the kitchen table, the tea cups put away, and Piotr is in the living area, sitting cross legged on the floor as he looks over some information.
His expression isn't one that's dour. It's just thoughtful as he's trying to digest the information. In front of him is a computer, and he's currently looking over information on schools near the house.
The open floorplan of the first floor is made to appear all the larger by the fact there’s so little furniture in it at the moment. There’s an old couch, a spot for the TV and not a whole lot else at the moment.
Illyana hadn’t gotten back to sleep, so used to not doing so that once she was awake she wasn’t inclined to lie back down yet. The sound of Keiko and Piotr arguing meant to avoid the downstairs but it’s been quiet for a while now.
Back in her PJs, the blonde woman comes down the stairs enough to see that Piotr’s alone and then joins him on the main floor. “// You should be sleeping, brother. ” She says in Russian. “ You can have my bed, if you like. //”
"Everyone offer me bed. You. Keiko." Piotr snort. "I gave bed to brother. He can stay here. I have room in Institute if needed." It was too late to go last night, but if this continues, it seems Piotr is ready to go back. "Not enough room for everyone here. Doubt Keiko will want me to stay with her. Doubt you want me to stay with her either."
Frustrated, Piotr pokes at the computer with his fingers. "Much easier when I was smaller. This is pain. Trying to find school closer for Elena. So her mother can see her. She is not happy she cannot visit her at Institute. "
Illyana moves over to sit next to Piotr, reaching out to put her hand over his much larger one to stop him from poking at the keyboard. “And I have one in Limbo. I think between the two of us, you should be here more. With your family.” She points out.
Closing her hand around his and dragging it over so she can hold it, and with that action pull his attention to her she arches a brow at him. “Now. Since you’ve decided how I feel about this, tell me why I don’t want you to stay with her, hmm?” She’ll chase down some of his other grumblings in a bit.
"You own her. You said as much in the diner. And when you were young, you were never eager to share things that you had." Piotr smirks as he watches her sit and his hand stills. "She says she can't give me what I want. But she has no asked me what it is that I want. She assumes. As I do with you." his eyes close and he looks down. "She came home, marks on her neck. Her and Koa. Her and you. Her and Elena. Her and I. I am the easiest bond to break."
"My heart is too big, Illyana. She will never accept it." he closes his eyes at that realization.
Illyana keeps hold of Piotr’s hand even as she lets out a soft sigh. “When I came back from Limbo, both times, really, I didn’t want to tell you everything that had happened. Everything about me that was changed. None of it could be changed and I wanted to spare you that pain. But in the end, that didn’t help any, hmm?” Her tone is sad. Perhaps a bit bitter.
“And now you’re neck-deep in all of it. So. I’m going to tell you something that you have managed not to pick up on.” Now she’s mocking him. Just a bit. “You’re mine, too. As far as the demons are concerned, I own you as much as Keiko. And no, it’s not only for show. If someone tries to hurt you or take you from me, I will not stand for it. Because you are mine.”
The hold on Piotr’s hand is tight, but only human and so it’s not likely to hurt the big man. “The collar was a symbol of that claim, but that never meant that I would treat her like a human would their pet, Piotr. The collar was so I could make sure she survived the encounter with Siffror without casting magic on *her*, to try not to corrupt her.” Fat lot of good that did, but hey. Her intentions were good, right?
Road. Hell.
"I realized that. Maybe three years in. When they tried to take Elena the first time." Piotr responds, a frown pulling his features. "It is why I did not want Mikhail there long. They would know there was third Rasputin. They would know you have one you can sacrifice." he shakes his head, his understanding of Limbo far more vast than it was just a few weeks ago.
"And the collars tie her and Koa together. If not for Elena, she would be closer to him, than me. I ruined that." he looks down. "She says I never forced her. But I didn't treat her as she deserved. A relationship should be built. Made. Moulded. We didn't do that because I was scared. I did not want her hurt. And now I realize why." his tone is bitter, sad. "..not just because of my feelings for her, but because I was protecting her for you. But you already had a match for her."
Illyana looks at Piotr. For a long, long moment. “Brat. What about me has *ever* said ‘matchmaker’?” Her tone is so very, very dry.
“I didn’t tell either of them about this ahead of time, because hey, I’m the ruler of Limbo and I’m not beholden to mere mortals,” Oh yeah, sarcasm is still there in full force. “Or because I’m something of a manipulative bitch, but that wasn’t about setting up some sort of weird demonic Dating Game. Hellfires, *I* don’t even understanding dating, why would I push that onto someone? I knew the amount of power we were going to be pushing through Keiko would be too much stress on her still quite mortal system. I couldn’t take any of it on because if things went south, I needed to be able to get them out of there. So I linked her and Koa through the collars in an effort not to get her killed. If more came of it, that was just fallout.”
Illyana squeezes his hand again. “You can’t ruin something that might never have happened. And just because you didn’t build a relationship in the traditional manner doesn’t mean it’s not there.” She leans her shoulder into his. “You always protect, brat. Everyone. It is your nature.”
"We are not known for our great relationships. Something we did not pick up from our parents." Piotr says with a dryness as he tries to bleed his own anger and frustration off. "Though you and farm boy seem to be cozy." There's a slight smirk at that.
"Only relationship besides Keiko was …" he stops himself, he's not going down that mess of a road. Especially now that the gulf between them is /over/ a decade. He feels the press of his sister and he blows out a breath. "It is weakness. That was hammered home when in Limbo. That I cared too much. I tried to change. I tried to make things better for you there. I tended to garden. Kept demons in line. Stopped Belasco.."
Illyana’s fingers thread through his, linking them tightly. “Yeah, not so much.” She agrees wryly at their poor relationship skills. When he mentions Sam she gives him a smirk and arched brow. “Tall farm boy. What’s not to like?” She’s teasing him, given that it describes Piotr as well.
“In Limbo, it’s a weakness.” Illyana agrees. “But don’t let that steal it from you. I didn’t let it steal *you* from me.” She points out. She’s always shown her brother the same love she did as a child, despite her long stints alone in Limbo.
There’s a small, delighted laugh as he mentions the garden. “I saw that! I was sure it was going to be dead after all that time. It’s a project Sam and I had been working on.” The two had been spending time together before getting stuck in the dream realm. “And you did.” She assures him of his time in Limbo. Of his sacrifice. “You realize you’ve ruled Limbo longer than I did? Seven years for you. I’d only removed Belasco maybe a year ago, my-time.”
Squeezing Illyana's fingers, Piotr glances down and draws in a breath. "I've not felt like this, snowflake. Not for Kitty. Keiko infuriates me at times.. but I still long for her. That makes me dumb." he chuckles at that. "Perhaps she should have been queen." Shaking his head, he blows out a breath.
"I am not sure if she wants me to stay. Or be with her. If she said to stop trying, I might. I don't know. I don't want to hurt her, though I feel as though that's too late." There's a sadness there, as if realizing that universal truth. "But enough on my blathering over my heart. This Mikhail. Do you think he is ours - trapped at the moment his ship collapsed at spot on mission? Or another?"
“Keiko has always been infuriating.” Illyana says dryly, stroking her hand over their clasped ones. “But then I suppose she always reminded me a bit of myself. If I hadn’t had you there. Reserved. Hard. I’ve seen her with your daughter. All protective and possessive, but no affection. I was trying to get through to her, make her accept that love wasn’t always a bad thing before all of this happened. Maybe you’ll have better luck than me, hmm?”
“If Keiko wants you to go away, she’s not usually shy about saying so.” Illyana points out. “But asking you to stay is likely much harder for her. Even if she might want to do so.”
As for Mikhail? The blonde shakes her head. “No idea.” She admits. “I never knew him, remember? We’ll know more after he wakes.” Illyana looks up at him again. “I would have had us back here before you guys even stopped moving, but I couldn’t open a new portal and still hold that one open. I didn’t want him in Limbo for any longer than I could help it, either.” She wants him to know they were on the same page there.
"Maybe. I feel like I am back at the start. Hello, I am Piotr, what is your name." There's a snort at that. "I do not even know what ice cream she buys for you that might be her favorite." Not that Illyana is ever picky when it comes to ice cream. "Your farm boy caused issue. Could have gone alone. He rushed in, head first." As if Piotr has much room to talk.
"Almost caused bigger issue. Mikhail probably is confused. Will need me here when he wakes up. Will have Institute look at him. He is mutant. Can change molecular.. it was strange when I was a child."
Yeah, Piotr calling Sam out for letting his White Knight complex rule him gets him a Look from Illyana. “He’d been having dreams of a pretty girl in trouble. She managed to get physical proof that she was real out of his dream and into the real world, but it was degrading quickly. It was go after her or start from scratch to find her. He made a call and lead with his heart. I’m not going to blame him for that.” Sam will blame himself enough. Much as Piotr does for her being trapped in Limbo.
“No wonder the government was always keeping an eye on our family.” Illyana mutters. Three out of three mutants. Russia is probably not happy that they’ve all escaped the Soviet’s clutches. Illyana squeezes his hand again. “We’ll make it alright.” Not that it will be alright, but that they’ll make it so. Because Keiko isn’t the only one that’s frustratingly stubborn.
Illyana sighs then. “So.. You heard that I named you my heir.”
"We cannot let them know yet that we have another." Elena. He lets out a breath and smirks. Limbo after them on one side, government on them on the other. And they're a mishmash of Russian, American, Peruvian.. and who knows what else.
"So what does this mean? You decide to go again, I get dragged back there to sit there like Conan to wait on your return?" he asks her, as Piotr snorts slightly. "I doubt Keiko will want to come with me again."
Illyana nods in agreement about keeping Elena on the down-low. She winces a bit at Piotr’s words and shakes her head. “I’m not *planning* to go anywhere.” Just like she hadn’t planned this time, of course. “Normally I can keep Limbo mostly in-sync with Earth-time. Obviously, that got messed up somehow. I’d only been ruling Limbo for like a year and then I was missing for what some of the demons claim is centuries. They *were* patient, really.” Just a lot of time had passed. For them.
“It’s weird, having them demand an heir. And looking at Elena. I didn’t want to offer you up like that but I *definitely* wasn’t going to offer *her* up like that. So. Yeah. Sorry.” As a child, the word might have come easily to her. Since she’s returned from Limbo that first time? Piotr can probably count on one hand the number of times she’s apologized so directly.
“If you want, we can try to take some steps to make sure it’s such a prison sentence. If you want nothing to do with it, well. I can’t say I blame you.” As for Keiko going along with? “Well they won’t need her as leverage this time. And hopefully she and Elena will be here, and not there.” She doesn’t try to sugarcoat that. She’s a queen and he’s now the crown prince. Yay.
"Am I to say no and damn my daughter? You know better, Illyana." Piotr says with a sigh. "No, should such come to past, I have done it once. I will have to do so again." He takes the apology for what it is - and before she can react, he reaches over and pulls Illyana into a hug.
Forgiven. As he always does with her. It may make life easier, but he's already suffered the first corruption of his soul. And there is still that missing piece. Somewhere in Limbo.
Piotr’s always been much bigger than her. Even when she was ‘older’. Now he’s much *much* bigger, even if he is leaner. When he pulls her into his lap she curls up against him and, for a least a moment, allows herself to be that child he used to hold with one of her hands fisting in the front of his shirt and knees drawn up to her chest. He’s always been her shelter, even when he wasn’t there.
She doesn’t ask then, if that means that she is damned. Something he surely used to argue against before he’d seen Limbo for himself. “We will do better by her, Piotr Nikolaievitch.” A promise. And Illyana does not make those lightly.
Head on his shoulder, she looks up at the severe cut of his face with it’s ‘new’ beard. “Supposedly, Limbo wasn’t always a hellscape. That once, before Belasco, it was paradise. That’s part of why I asked Sam to help me with the garden. Maybe, with effort, it could become that again. Or at least.. Not as bad.” And maybe that’s the legacy they can leave his daughter.